Lab Report: Medical Imaging with the Čerenkov Effect

Dartmouth’s Optics In Medicine Laboratory released an optical imaging plug-in that interfaces with the GEANT4/GAMOS Monte Carlo architecture and enables the software package to simulate radiation-induced light transport in biological media. The plug-in allows researchers to model biomedical applications of the Čerenkov effect, the emission of light by a charged particle passing through a medium at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium.

“The plug-in developed by our lab allows scientists to simulate and study new radiation-induced optical measurements of cancerous tumors. We hope that these results will help in the development of novel cancer detection and treatment methods,” says Thayer Ph.D. student Adam Glaser, who worked on the plug-in with physics Ph.D. student Rongxiao Zhang, Thayer research scientist Chad Kanick, and Thayer Professor Brian Pogue, director of the lab.

The plug-in and user’s guide are available for free download on the Optics in Medicine Laboratory’s website. The site also links to the lab group’s article, “A GAMOS plug-in for GEANT4 based Monte Carlo simulation of radiation-induced light transport in biological media,” published in Vol. 4, Issue 5 of Biomedical Optics Express.